1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote surgery support system for remotely supporting surgery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Normally, an operator performs surgery on a patient in an operating room. For example, an operator in an operating room may have to carry out a surgical procedure in which the operator has little experience. A support system for helping the operator appropriately perform surgery on a patient in an operating room is presumably such that the operator in the operating room can perform surgery while remotely supported by a remotely supporting operator. Specifically, the operator in the operating room communicates with the remotely supporting operator staying in a remote place over a public line, and receives instructions on a region to be resected from the remotely supporting operator during surgery.
Related arts concerning the remote surgery support system for remotely supporting surgery include an art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-318019.
According to the related art, when surgery is performed by controlling the movement of a surgical instrument using a manipulator, an operator in an operating room is informed the contents of a manipulation expressed by a manipulation signal produced when a remotely supporting operator controls the surgical instrument. Consequently, the operator in the operating room can smoothly carry out a surgical procedure with the help of the remotely supporting operator.
However, according to the related art, the remotely supporting operator cannot monitor the state of the surgical instrument in the operating room. For instructing the way of manipulating the surgical instrument from a remote control room to the operating room, the remotely supporting operator must ask verbally the state of the surgical instrument from time to time. A surgical procedure is therefore suspended frequently. Consequently, there is an increasing demand for an environment in which surgery can be performed more smoothly.
Moreover, the remotely supporting operator has no means for checking patient data. Patient information must therefore be sent to the remotely supporting operator. In case of emergency surgery, it is impossible to make patient information timely available in a remote place.
An object of the present invention is to provide a remote surgery support system making it possible to readily check the state of a surgical instrument and/of patient information in a remote place over a communication line.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote surgery support system making it possible to give instructions on surgery while readily checking the state of a surgical instrument and/or patient information in a remote place over a communication line.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a surgical information display method making it possible to observe endoscopic images and readily check the state of a surgical instrument and/or patient information.
A remote surgery support system consists mainly of:
a first control means installed in an operating room for controlling a surgical instrument;
an input means for use in inputting control information, with which the surgical instrument is controlled, to the first control means;
a first signal transmission apparatus for receiving information, which indicates the controlled state of the surgical instrument, from the first control means, and converting the information into a transmissible signal;
a communication line over which the transmissible signal converted by the first signal transmission apparatus to a control room in a remote place;
a second signal transmission apparatus for receiving the transmissible signal from the first signal transmission apparatus over the communication line, and converting the signal into a signal corresponding to the information;
a second control means for receiving the signal from the second signal transmission apparatus; and
a display device for visualizing an output of the second control means.
Consequently, an operator staying in the remote place can monitor the state of the surgical instrument.
The remote surgery support system further includes:
a second input means for supplying support information to the second control means; and
a second display device for inputting the support information from the second control means via the second signal transmission apparatus and the first signal transmission apparatus, and displaying the information.
Consequently, the operator in the remote place can input support information concerning a procedure at the second input means to the second control means. The input support information is displayed on the second display device via the second signal transmission apparatus and the first signal transmission apparatus. The operator in the operating room can carry out the procedure.